When animals need medical attention, effective restraint makes the job easier and safer for both the person providing the care and the animal. Dairies are equipped with headlocks, palpation rails, gates, and more for this purpose. But in addition to physical and environmental measures, veterinarians occasionally use chemical measures to provide sedation, anesthesia, and pain relief.

On an episode of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) “Have You Herd?” podcast, Matt Miesner, D.V.M., explained that it is important for vets and animal handlers to know the difference between anesthesia, sedation, and analgesia. Different treatments have different effects, and animal care providers must know the right option to choose depending on the situation.

Giving anesthesia provides the animal with loss of consciousness or loss of pain sensation, said the clinical professor at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Anesthesia will make the animal lose some mindset, which is useful when performing surgery or handling a painful injury. Miesner said that ketamine is the main dissociative anesthetic available when an animal needs to be seriously subdued.

Sedation, on the other hand, puts the animal into various states of sleepiness. Miesner explained that the patient will lose a little control of their body but not consciousness. Acepromazine is an example of a useful light sedative for livestock to calm them down in stressful situations, he continued.

Xylazine is another common sedative for cattle. Miesner described that it changed the course of veterinarians’ ability to restrain animals for more painful or invasive procedures since being introduced over 50 years ago. It has minimal side effects, and with proper dosage and care can be very effective.

Unfortunately, the bulk powder form of xylazine has gained traction on the illegal drug market, leading the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to push toward making it a controlled substance. AABP executive director Fred Gingerich discussed that they have worked with the American Veterinary Medical Association to carve out exemptions for the veterinary form of xylazine, which has not been found to be coming into the country illegally. If the drug was controlled, Gingerich explained that there would only be one manufacturer of it in the U.S., making it more difficult for veterinarians to access. The industry is waiting on further legislative decisions to determine the accessibility of this sedative.

Wrapping up the three categories of chemical restraint, analgesia refers to reducing pain sensation. It does not provide any loss of consciousness, while both anesthesia and sedatives can have analgesic properties, Miesner said. These three categories can be used in combination with one another to provide a complete effect.

First, do no harm

The protocol a vet prescribes will always depend on the individual situation. Miesner said they will first consider the animal’s health status and what problem needs to be addressed before making a chemical restraint plan. What else is going on in the body that may impact how the drug performs?

Further, there may be breed sensitivities to take into account, or if a patient is already particularly excitable, the dosage may need to be adjusted.

Miesner also recognized that eventually, the effects of these anesthetics, analgesics, or sedatives will wear off, but the animal will likely still be in some pain, and postoperative care remains crucial. Any light analgesia provided by the anesthetic or sedative will be short-lived. He said meloxicam is probably the most common tool for pain relief when used appropriately, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are useful at the right level, too.

Chemical restraint options should always be carefully chosen by a veterinarian, and we must also be aware of their limitations. When used appropriately, they are another way to reduce stress and anxiety so an animal does not further harm itself when we are trying to provide care. Proper welfare is a critical part of the process of reducing pain, Miesner summarized.